


beacon of warmth

by Tayani



Series: ShuAke Confidant Week [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Ambiguity, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Day 1, M/M, ShuAke Confidant Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 10:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16448201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tayani/pseuds/Tayani
Summary: ShuAke Confidant Week Day 1 – food / foil / antithesisGoro stops by Leblanc after a long, terrible day.





	beacon of warmth

Akira had always enjoyed mocking him.

Not in an entirely bad sense of the word. The raven was simply so different; everything about him was. From the very first time, from their very first meeting at the TV station, Goro had thought so. Akira was his enemy, his rival, the thief to his detective, the other side of the coin, the antithesis to his thesis. They disagreed about everything, from the definition of justice to the food flavours they enjoyed; and yet, in the chaos of contradiction, they had never once had a disagreement.

Their discussions had never moved from sharp, stimulating battle of wits; much like one of the many chess matches they played with calm calculation, Goro always with white, Akira always with black figures. Their discussions were a battle, too; a dance of lies and truth shining underneath, a fencing match where both of them tried – and often failed – to catch the other off guard.

Being near Akira itself felt like fighting a battle. Goro found he prepared himself before his visits to Leblanc, bracing himself for the thrill of it all.

It was all the more surprising, then, that he has chosen that day to stop by. The day was anything but bracing or relaxing; and he was in no state to partake in another cheeky banter, arguing with Akira as the raven tried to force him to admit defeat in one of their many confrontations.

No, that day, he has been exhausted; weary and unable to meet his own eyes in the mirror, much less to try and meet these silvery eyes of the raven waiting for him behind the counter, wide with naïve ideas about justice, about good and bad, about how the world should be.

Some part of him expected mockery. Some part of him waited for it; it was what he deserved today. As Goro slipped slowly into his usual seat, he braced himself for the impact, the many responses he tried to build up in advance crumbling under their own weight in his tired brain. God, why did he come here?

“…tough day?”

For mockery, Akira sure was starting on a light note today. His voice was all wrong, too. Goro smiled lightly and nodded, a smile as fake and plastic as his whole face usually was. This time, however, it felt much _harder_ to hide the jagged edges from his expression. He could feel a touch – a hint, nothing more – of concern in the raven’s voice, and convinced himself he was hearing things.

Akira wasn’t concerned for him. No one ever was.

The glass with water clinked against the counter as it has been set before him, and Goro felt a surge of gratefulness that there were no more words from Akira. Indeed, though he still wouldn’t look up into these silver eyes that seemed to bear into his very soul the moment he did, Goro could see the soft expression his face had as the raven moved away, walking towards the little kitchen further in the back. He started on preparing coffee Goro didn’t order, and a meal he wasn’t even planning on ordering tonight.

Goro almost hated him for it. He almost loved him for it, as well. It felt jarring, to have someone read him so easily, like an open book; it felt almost ridiculously good, too.

Soft whisper of rain from his right side made Goro look away from Akira’s elegant hands preparing his drink; and at the droplets of rain, pitter-pattering against the glass pane in the door to Leblanc. Outside, it was already dark; wind, rain and autumn cold made it look even less inviting than it has been before. Leblanc, however, was warm, filled with the scent of coffee and strangely complimentary scents of wood, spices and the special, old kind of scents establishments such as this one had. In the ocean of dark, damp and cold, it was the beacon of warmth.

Perhaps this was exactly why Goro had gravitated to it so, on a day such as this. Leblanc had made it more bearable; whereas even the thought of such an evening spent in his empty apartment made the detective shudder with cold that had nothing to do with the temperature outside.

“Did you bring an umbrella?” Akira spoke out again, and Goro almost jumped, emerging from the ocean of his thoughts. The raven was before him again, setting a steaming cup of coffee and an even more steaming plate of curry before him. Goro felt his stomach give a distinct rumble at the sight and wondered, briefly, whether he remembered to eat anything for lunch today. He might have forgotten; it happened sometimes.

“I… no, I didn’t. It’s quite alright, though.” the detective murmured in reply after a moment, looking up; a big mistake. These quicksilver eyes caught his own finally, and a strange sensation – like spreading weakness – shuddered quietly down his being. Even his voice felt weak when he spoke again.

“…I would hate to sound ungrateful, Kurusu-kun, however… what is all this? I did not place my order yet.”

“That’s ‘cause it’s not an order.” Akira smiled lightly; and where usually the smile would be sharp and mocking and inviting him to play, now it was soft. Soft like Akira’s voice, like his hair – though Goro never had the pleasure to check _that_ comparison for himself.

“Won’t Sakura-san be cross with you for giving away free meals?”

“I work for free, I get to give away free meals to whomever I fancy.” Akira shrugged, leaning against the counter and looking away. Goro bit his lip; and then, explaining to himself that he will simply leave money for the curry when he’ll be leaving, and that a meal will truly do him good, he started to eat.

It was good. More than that, really. Goro hated spicy food, preferring tastes milder and sweeter than that, but Leblanc curry has managed to win a place in his heart even so. This one, however; this was different. It tasted… it tasted…

“How is it?” Akira murmured quietly, and Goro looked up at him again; seeing his eyes intent and gentle and strangely unguarded. And instead of trying to dive in, to discover the secrets they held in these rare moments of weakness, Goro felt himself… content. Satisfied with the soft openness of them.

“It’s… delicious, thank you. Pass my compliments to Boss, please.”

“I could, but if you want to congratulate the chef, then he’s standing before you.” Akira smiled lightly, twirling a strand of his hair between his fingers. Goro wondered briefly why hadn’t he guessed it before. The meal tasted different from usual, certainly. It tasted…

“… _warm_.” he murmured quietly, before stuffing another spoonful into his mouth when Akira blinked at him in confusion. Goro chewed and swallowed, turning his eyes away as he did so.

“It tastes… warm. Like home-cooked food would.”

Goro did not need to look up to see the smile on Akira’s lips. He did not look up. He did not _want_ to see.

It was quite astounding, how quickly the curry disappeared from his plate. Goro had to be more hungry than he thought; as he licked the spoon clean after the last bite, feeling somewhat embarrassed for doing so, but not embarrassed enough to stop himself. He finished his coffee, too, and looked outside once more.

The rain continued to fall; the street outside was shining with thousand cold lights from the streetlamps reflecting in every little puddle along the way. Goro felt a quiet sigh escape his lips and reached for his wallet.

“…thank you for the food.”

“I said it’s on the house, didn’t I?” Akira shook his head, nudging his chin towards the money Goro pulled out of his wallet. “Don’t mention it. You… looked like you needed a good meal.”

“Is that so?” Goro smiled his reliable fake smile, setting the bills on the counter even so and standing up. The show of how easily Akira could read him jarred his mind; made him tense up and wish for more distance between them once more. Made him pull back into the coldness of the outside world; where everything was how it should be. Where he didn’t need to think about the flicker of concern in Akira’s eyes, nor feel his fingertips on his palm as the raven reached out, touching his hand lightly.

“Goro.” the whisper of his given name made the familiar weakness spread over his body once more; all of it feeling numb, save for he hot patch of skin where Akira’s fingers pressed.

“Kurusu-kun.” he replied stubbornly, even so. Akira snorted out a soft laugh and shook his head; but he didn’t take his hand away. Neither, now that he thought of it, did Goro, but that was entirely beside the point.

“I wish you could trust me enough to let me help more.” came another soft whisper.

_I wish I had met you before it became impossible for me to trust you_ , replied Goro’s mind. Akira smiled; as if he could hear the fleeting thought, as if he could read it in Goro’s eyes. And then, he took his hand away. As if released from a spell, Goro straightened up as well and slipped from his seat, nodding curtly to Akira before turning to the door.

“Wait.” the raven said, and Goro turned back once more, eyebrow risen in question. It made Akira smile, the expression on his face. “Here, at least take the umbrella. You can bring it back the next time you stop by.”

The umbrella was black and large, and promised dry passage to the station, and then to his apartment. Goro hesitated, before reaching out and taking it from the raven, their fingertips brushing again.

_Warm_. _Painfully warm._

In the gentle, golden light of Leblanc, Akira looked more like the antithesis of him than ever. Warm where he was cold; open where he kept himself shut close. Caring where Goro forbade himself to care.

_Truth is found neither in the thesis nor the antithesis, but in an emergent synthesis which reconciles the two._

“…there are perks, you know.” he felt himself mumble. “To walking in the rain.”

Akira smiled, and Goro wished he didn’t. As he turned around and opened the door, he didn’t need to look; he felt Akira’s warmth following him outside as he walked into the rain, the unopened umbrella still in his hand.

“I never kissed in the rain before.” Goro heard from behind himself, and had to stop an exasperated smile from stretching his lips.

“What a coincidence.” he said, turning around and looking into these quicksilver eyes again as rain fell over them steadily. “We agree at last. Me neither.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my stories, you can find me on twitter [@mikan_writings](https://twitter.com/mikan_writings) and/or tumblr at [mikan_writings](https://mikan-writings.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
